Northam
| Northam | |
| Devon | |
|---|---|
 Northam Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SS450290 |
| Location: | 51°2’21"N, 4°12’37"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 7,489 (2011) |
| Post town: | Bideford |
| Postcode: | EX39 |
| Dialling code: | 01237 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Torridge |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Torridge and West Devon |
Northam is a small village in Devon, to north of Bideford and south of Westward Ho!. It is thought to have been the site of an Anglo-Saxon fortress, and is said to have been where Hubba the Dane attacked Devon and was repelled (perhaps by Alfred the Great or by the Earl of Devon). A little over a mile away along the coast is a village called Appledore. Between the villages of Appledore and Northam, is 'Bloody Corner'. There is a rock called 'Hubba's Rock' which is supposed to be the site where Hubba the Dane was killed by the Anglo-Saxon (or Devonshire) fyrd.
Sport and recreation
Northam has a King George's Field as a memorial to King George V.
Landscape
Northam Burrows lies adjacent to the Taw Torridge Estuary and is an evocative landscape of saltmarsh and dunes. It is part of the North Devon Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, sits within the North Devon Biosphere, and is a SSSI (Northam Burrows SSSI)
Railway
The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway (B,WH&A,R) was most unusual amongst British railways in that although it was built as a standard gauge line it was not joined to the rest of the railway network, despite the London and South Western Railway having a station at Bideford, East-the-Water, meaning on the other side of the River Torridge from the main town.
The line was wholly situated on the peninsular made up of Westward Ho!, Northam and Appledore with extensive sand dunes the Torridge and Taw estuary. Northam station and the line closed in 1917 having been requisitioned by the War Office, and is now used as part of the Tarka Trail cycle route which forms part of the South West Coast Path.
Outside links
References
- Stuckey, Douglas (1962). The Bideford, Westward Ho! and Appledore Railway 1901-1917. Pub. West Country Publications.